Pierre Karl Péladeau and the Parti Québécois have ripped the National Assembly's legal counsel, saying he has no mandate to rule on the blind trust issue, with the PQ accusing him of having an axe to grind because his son was fired from Québecor.

Pierre Karl Péladeau and the Parti Québécois have ripped the National Assembly’s legal counsel, saying he has no mandate to rule on the blind trust issue, with the PQ accusing him of having an axe to grind because his son was fired from Québecor.

And Péladeau says he and his entourage had nothing to do with his old company, Québecor, issuing a strident defence of its former president and CEO following a blistering attack by businessman Mitch Garber.

“No,” Péladeau answered Tuesday when asked if he or his entourage had any contact with Québecor CEO Pierre Dion, who issued a defence of the company’s old boss on Monday, referring him to as an “unequalled,” manager of the company.

The statement followed comments made by Garber, CEO of Caesars Acquisition Co., and a new investor on the French-language version of the TV hit Dragons’ Den, Dan l’oeil du dragon.

On Tout le monde en parle Sunday, Garber questioned Péladeau’s record as the head of the company, noting other media companies had better share performance.

That sparked a Twitter fight between the host of the show, Guy A. Lepage and Péladeau’s spouse, Julie Snyder, who rose to her husband’s defence.

“These are not opinions, they are false, sad comments, undignified of a dragon,” Snyder tweeted.

That was followed by the Québecor statement, which heaped praise on Péladeau, noting that between 1999 and 2014 — the years he was president and CEO — the company experienced an increase in operating income of more than 80 per cent, going from $770 million to $1.4 billion.

Garber responded, saying Québecor has not responded to his concerns about the firm’s profits.

Tuesday, Péladeau quipped Garber should have owned shares because Québecor’s profits were excellent.

But another storm was brewing over a legal opinion issued by the National Assembly’s legal adviser, Claude Bisson, on Péladeau’s pledge to put his Québecor shares in a blind trust should he win the PQ leadership, but tell the trustee he’s not allowed to sell them.

Bisson ruled two weeks ago that it could leave Péladeau in a conflict of interest should he become premier.

PQ interim leader Stéphane Bédard went to bat for Péladeau Monday, saying Bisson put himself in a conflict of interest in dealing with the case because he never revealed his son, Alain Bisson, was fired from Québecor during the 2010 lockout.

He said Bisson went beyond his mandate, which is to advise MNAs about legal issues, not take stands on issues kicked his way by the government — in this case from Liberal house leader Jean-Marc Fournier.

Fournier fired back Tuesday, accusing the PQ of trying to intimidate Bisson and waging a “brutal attack,” on the institution. He noted Bisson issued a definition of a blind trust in 2009, before the lockout.

Péladeau supporter and MNA Pascal Bérubé said Fournier “acted like a clown” who got caught trying to use the legal adviser to his own political ends.

Péladeau was more cautious saying Bisson “should have thought twice” before issuing an opinion considering his son’s status.

And he stuck to his view that should he become leader he would continue to have a say over the future of the blind trust. The legal adviser does not have a mandate to say otherwise, he said.

Asked if he would conform to an order from the actual ethics commission to drop the control should he rise to cabinet, he said the issue is premature.

“Let the commissioner do his work and we’ll see what comes of it in due time,” he said.

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